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Texas flips the former Kansas commit.
Texas’ basketball team lost some major production to the NBA and especially from the guard spots. Continue reading “Texas basketball lands 2023 four-star guard Chris Johnson”
Two West Virginia alumni are urging the Mountaineers to stay together through their recent adversity.
With the departure of Bob Huggins following a DUI arrest last Friday, the West Virginia Mountaineers men’s basketball team is at a crossroads.
Now with Huggins gone, players can freely enter the transfer portal right away with no penalty and transfer freely to a school of their choice and be eligible for next season without a waiver.
Through the uncertainty, two former Mountaineers currently with roles in the NBA are trying their best to help keep the program together.
According to a report from basketball insider Adam Zagoria, West Virginia alumni Joe Mazzulla, the head coach of the Boston Celtics and Cleveland Cavaliers general manager Mike Gansey reportedly met with the team via Zoom. In that Zoom call, the two urged the Mountaineers to keep the team together through this adversity.
West Virginia is currently in the midst of a national coaching search according to ESPN’s Pete Thamel. Thamel also called the job attractive due to the “NIL opportunities that helped lure one of the top transfer classes to Morgantown,” this offseason.
West Virginia is coming off a 19-15 season which included a 7-11 record in Big 12 play. The Mountaineers made the NCAA Tournament as a No. 9 seed, falling to the Maryland Terrapins in the first round. The program has made the NCAA Tournament nine times since the 2009-2010 season.
Some are doing better than others. Here’s a look at how each of the 12 schools did over the past season.
Only 12 schools in NCAA Division 1 athletics made the postseason in all three major men’s sports. Continue reading “12 schools made the postseason in all three major men’s NCAA sports”
Parker Braun following in his brother’s footsteps.
In this day and age of the transfer portal, the rich seem to get richer. The Kansas Jayhawks are one of the teams that are taking full advantage of the portal after losing a large portion of the team in the 2023 portal cycle.
On Wednesday it was reported that the younger brother of Christian Braun, who won a title with KU, will join the team.
According to the Topeka Capital-Journal, Parker will head to Kansas where his brother won a national championship. Christian Braun is now in the NBA with the Denver Nuggets. Just a season removed from his Jayhawks winning the 2022 NCAA championship, the elder Braun could be closing in on an NBA title as well.
During his run with Kansas in 2022, Christian averaged 14.1 points per game with 6.5 rebounds and 2.8 assists. Now his younger brother Parker could follow suit and cut down the nets with the Jayhawks in the 2023-24 season.
The 6-foot-8 forward has spent the last two seasons with Santa Clara after two years with the Missouri Tigers. During his career, Braun has averaged 5.2 points per game with 3.8 rebounds and 1.2 assists. As a member of Santa Clara last season, he averaged 7.7 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 2 assists per game.
Parker Braun will join a squad that recently added former Michigan big man Hunter Dickinson. Head coach Bill Self and the staff is reloading their roster to make another run at the title. The Jayhawks are coming off the 2022-23 season where they were bounced in the second round of the NCAA tournament by the Arkansas Razorbacks.
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Per Pete Thamel, Bob Huggins will return to WVU under stipulations after using an anti-gay slur on Cincinnati radio.
On Wednesday morning it was reported by ESPN’s Pete Thamel that West Virginia men’s basketball head coach Bob Huggins would remain in Morgantown with a reduced contract and plenty of stipulations.
Huggins came under immense scrutiny after using a homophobic slur on Cincinnati radio to describe a former rival’s fanbase. Huggins was the head coach of the Cincinnati Bearcats from 1989 to 2005 before taking the job at Kansas State until 2007 when he returned to his alma mater.
Thamel’s report indicates that Huggins will receive a reduced salary and a suspension. The former West Virginia point guard will also have to attend sensitivity training.
Sources: WVU and coach Bob Huggins are finalizing details for him to return to the sideline next season in the wake of him using an anti-gay slur in a radio interview earlier this week. He's expected to receive a suspension, $1 million salary reduction and sensitivity training. pic.twitter.com/w2VSVrl22p
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) May 10, 2023
Thamel also reports that these stipulations must be fulfilled in order for Huggins to return to West Virginia next basketball season.
Currently, Huggins and West Virginia have the No. 1 transfer portal class for the 2023-24 season according to 247Sports. The team is 345-203 under Huggins in his return to Morgantown.
An announcement of the salary reduction is expected as early as Wednesday afternoon.
Oklahoma Basketball offers 2025 small forward Kash Polk. He’s a young wing player that offers a ton of versatility out of Argyle, Texas.
Oklahoma and Porter Moser have offered a scholarship to 2025 prospect Kash Polk. Polk is a 6-foot-8, 195-pound small forward out of Argyle, Texas.
It’s early in Polk’s recruitment, and Oklahoma was in on the recruitment at a ground level. Polk also holds offers from Texas A&M and Rice. He should get more offers as he plays more on the Nike EYBL circuit with Houston Hoops. These offers came recently at the Phoenix EYBL event.
He’s a versatile player for his size and would be a massive get for Porter Moser if Oklahoma can close the deal.
'25 Kash Polk (@PolkKash) has received an offer from Oklahoma. The 6'9 F from Argyle (@ArgyleBball) is running with Houston Hoops (@HoustonHoops17U) on the Nike EYBL Circuit. Polk holds offers from Texas A&M and Rice but expect him to add his list of interested schools pic.twitter.com/WfDaA3yVRX
— Dino Siervo (@dswervo305) April 28, 2023
Polk’s recruitment is going to continue to heat up, thanks to the EYBL circuit.
Porter Moser’s proven to be a solid coach, but the Sooners haven’t really seen the success yet. There’s been a lot of roster turnover the last two seasons, so Moser needs to find some recruiting success to build the depth of the roster. This is a good indication that Moser’s at least getting the Sooners in the door of with some elite basketball prospects.
Though he’s not yet ranked, look for Polk to see the offers start to roll in this summer and over the course of his junior year at Argyle.
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The loss of Ron Holland leaves Texas without a single player in its 2023 recruiting class.
Another tough blow for Rodney Terry and Texas basketball as 2023 five-star power forward Ron Holland announced his decommitment from the program on Friday.
Holland committed to Texas before Chris Beard was let go for an alleged domestic violence incident in January. He chose the Longhorns over the likes of Arkansas, UCLA and Kentucky.
“I want to take this time to thank head coach RT and the entire Texas coaching staff for their consideration, I would also like to thank the Longhorn Nation for all their love and support, While this has been a difficult process, I have decided to decommit from University of Texas and re-open my recruitment. Texas will still be one of my top schools of choice.”
The Duncanville product is ranked as the No. 1 product in the state of Texas and the No. 6 overall player in the cycle.
The loss of Holland leaves Texas without a single player in its 2023 recruiting class. Fellow five-star AJ Johnson opted to sign a pro contract in Australia over playing college ball.
2023 Top 5 prospect and the #1 forward in the class, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 6’8 Ron Holland has decomitted from Texas. pic.twitter.com/yHmFZ5f7SH
— College Basketball Report (@CBKReport) April 28, 2023
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The Longhorns are matched up with Shaka Smart’s Marquette Golden Eagles.
Texas basketball is set to face off with a familiar face in the 2023 Big East-Big 12 Battle. Continue reading “Texas to face Marquette in the 2023 Big East-Big 12 Battle”
Texas Tech brings Grant McCasland back to the Big 12.
After weeks of speculation, the [autotag]Texas Tech Red Raiders[/autotag] have hired North Texas head coach Grant McCasland as the next head coach per multiple reports. On Thursday night he led the Mean Green to the NIT Tournament championship. They defeated the UAB Blazers, 68-61.
The win gave McCasland a 30+ win season as UNT finished 31-7. Over his tenure with the Mean Green, the new Texas Tech head coach never had a losing season with five of the six seasons finishing with 20 or more wins. He won the CBI in 2018 and the NIT in 2023. Overall, McCasland was 135-65 and 71-35 in conference play with North Texas.
Multiple reports indicated that McCasland would accept the offer on Thursday evening following the NIT title game.
News: North Texas beats UAB and wins the NIT. Next up: Mean Green coach Grant McCasland will be leaving UNT to accept a six-year, $18 million deal to coach Texas Tech, sources told CBS Sports.
More: UNT will promote associate HC Ross Hodge to replace McCasland, sources said.
— Matt Norlander (@MattNorlander) March 31, 2023
McCasland returns to the Big 12 where he was an assistant under Baylor head coach Scott Drew. He also played in the Big 12 with the Bears from 1995 to 1999. As a head coach McCasland has won 70.2% of his games with no losing seasons.
The next step will be finalizing the coaching staff and beginning to work on the putting together his initial roster. The Red Raiders have three players in the transfer portal as Fardaws Aimaq, Elijah Fisher, and Robert Jennings all entered the portal following the season. Tech has a commitment from former Georgia forward KyeRon Lindsay.
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“I like to build teams that are dynamic that can beat teams in different ways.”
Rodney Terry was officially announced as the 26th head coach of the Texas Longhorns men’s basketball program on Monday. Continue reading “Interesting quotes from Rodney Terry’s introductory press conference”
